Cutting apparatus for cutting food items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting food items conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt. A cutter is arranged above a gap extending across the at least one conveyor belt. The cutter is positioned in relation to the gap such that the cutting path of the cutter extends through the food items and the gap and below the surface level of the at least one conveyor belt. The cutter is adapted to be connected to a control mechanism for operating crosswise movement of the cutter along the gap. The gap is formed between adjacent elongated supporting means such as rollers with a fixed internal arrangement, where the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter is adapted to be connected to a control mechanism for operating back and forth movement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter parallel to the conveying direction while maintaining the internal arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means and the cutter fixed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting fooditems conveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt andfurther to a food processing system comprising such cutting apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Undesired objects such as tissues or bones in food items such as fishfillets, poultry fillets and meat may be removed in an automatic way viacutting, where the cutting is performed in accordance to images taken ofthe food items that identify the locations of the tissues/bones to becut and removed. Today, the food items are often moved or placed on afirst conveyor that may include a thin solid belt where the imaging,e.g. x-ray imaging, takes place while the food items are being conveyed.Since the cutting involves implementing cutting procedure such as highpressure water jet that extends below the surface of the conveyor beltthe objects must me moved onto a special cutting belt, typically astainless steel conveyor belt, that will not be damaged during thecutting. A tracking mechanism is implemented for tracking the positionof the food item pieces at all times during the conveying. The movementbetween the two conveyors can easily result in an inaccuracy in thedisplacement of the food items at the interface between the twoconveyors so that the tracking of the food items becomes less reliable.Such errors have been corrected up to some extent in WO2011095998 byproviding a second image data when the food items are positioned on thecutting conveyor and compare this second image data with the first imagedata by utilizing the tracking position, i.e. the second image data iscompared to the expected position of the food items. In case ofnon-match between the first and second image data, the x-ray image dataare mapped onto the second image data such that the position of thetissued matches to the second image data, and the cutting process isthen based on the mapped image data.

There are however several disadvantages involved in using such twoseparate conveyors such as that the whole apparatus including thisimaging section and the cutting section can be very spacious and costly.Also, transferring the food items from the x-ray conveyor towards thecutting conveyor does always, despite the solution described inWO2011095998, result in some inaccuracy and is also costly since asecond imaging mechanism is required. Further, the cutter belt is madeof multiple of small stainless steel modules that are connected viahinges which makes the cleaning of the belt more difficult compared tothe above mentioned thin solid belt.

NO176343 discloses a machine for cutting fish fillet while these aresupported on a conveying surface on a conveyor belt comprising a framewhich can move linearly in the conveyor belt's direction of movement andwhich is arranged to support a cutting element at a level above theconveying surface. The conveyor belt is so arranged, in conjunction withthe frame, that it runs in a largely U-shaped path, lateral to theconveying surface of the conveyor belt to form a gap-shaped depressionin the conveyor belt's conveying surface. A guide roller, seated in arotation fashion in the frame and running laterally to the conveyor beltat a level below the conveying surface, supports the conveyor belt atthe bottom section of the U-shape belt. The frame is so constructed thatthe internal arrangement between the vertical plane through the cuttingelement's longitudinal axis and the vertical plane through the guideroller are shifted away from each other such that the U-shaped profileis askew in relation to the vertical plane through the cutting element'slongitudinal axis. This means that if the cutting means is not a knifeblade but waterjet cutter or other relevant jet cutter it is possible touse narrow gap.

A collection channel may be disposed at arbitrary levels in thedepression for preventing offcuts and any cutting fluid from forming anobstruction at the guide roller. In this embodiment it is preferred thatthe collection channel is disposed in the upper section of thedepression. The reason for this is that due to the oblique relationbetween the U-shaped profile and the vertical plane through the cuttingelement's longitudinal axis the collection channel can constitute aprotection for the conveyor belt in the cutting area so as to preventthe cutting element damaging (cutting into) the conveyor belt.

The drawback with this cutting machine is how complex it is, especiallywhen cutting tools such as waterjet are being implement instead ofcutting blades.

Moreover, there is no support for the conveyer belt except the tensionin the conveyor belt created between the drive roller and the reversingroller of the cutting machine. However, the conveyor belt will always bedeflected from it's initial two dimensional planar surface arrangementwhen food items are present and are being conveyed on the conveyor belt,where the more heavier the food items are the more will this deflectionbe. Such a deflection, e.g. between the drive roll and the U-shaped gap,is obviously reflected in less accurate cutting because the position ofthe food items in relation to the cutting means will always be shifted.Such an inaccuracy may be avoided up to some extent via arrangement inthe reversing roller for regulating the tension in the belt, but such anincrease in the tension may affect the back and fort movement of theframe comprising the cutting means.

Also, the length of the apparatus will always be limited because of thelack of support for the conveyor belt. This means that it can bedifficult or even impossible to implement this apparatus in relation tofurther apparatus e.g. as any types of imaging equipments such X-raymachines where it is important the such imaging equipments areassociated with the same conveyor belt as the conveyor belt of thecutting machine.

The inventor of the present invention has appreciated that there is thusa need for a simplified and more efficient cutting apparatus and foodprocessing system and has in consequence devised the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It would be advantageous to achieve an improved and more efficient andprecise cutting apparatus and a food processing system. In general, theinvention preferably seeks to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one ormore of the above mentioned disadvantages singly or in any combination.In particular, it may be seen as an object of the present invention toprovide a cutting apparatus that solves the above mentioned problems, orother problems, of the prior art.

To better address one or more of these concerns, in a first aspect ofthe invention a cutting apparatus is provided for cutting food itemsconveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt, comprising:

-   -   a cutter arranged above a gap extending across said at least one        conveyor belt, the cutter being positioned in relation to the        gap such that the cutting path of the cutter extends through the        food items and the gap and below the surface level of said at        least one conveyor belt, the cutter being adapted to be        connected to a control mechanism for operating crosswise        movement of the cutter along said gap,

wherein said gap is formed between adjacent elongated supporting meanswith a fixed internal arrangement, the adjacent elongated supportingmeans and the cutter being adapted to be connected to a controlmechanism for operating back and forth movement of the adjacentelongated supporting means and the cutter parallel to the conveyingdirection while maintaining said internal arrangement of the adjacentelongated supporting means and the cutter fixed.

Accordingly, in case that the imaging equipment is a x-ray machine,there is no longer need for using two separate conveyors, i.e. one as ax-ray conveyor and one as a cutting conveyor since one and the sameconveyor may be used for both conveying the food items during imagingand also during cutting. Thus, any errors in the displacement of theitems and thus in the cutting due to the transferring between x-rayconveyor and cutting conveyor has been eliminated. Also, the cutting maytake place on a thin solid belt instead of e.g. a stainless steelconveyor. This has several advantages such as easier cleanability of thebelt compared to such steel belts that they have alot of hinges and thelike. Also, the costs relating to using such belts is typically muchlower compared to such cutting belts. Further, similar type of belt maybe implemented for this cutting apparatus as in the remaining conveyorsin the food processing system which results in e.g. lowers costs.Additionally, the food items may be imaged at all times, e.g. shortlybefore the cutting starts and also during the cutting, but such animaging, e.g. x-ray imaging, is not possible on a such cutting belts.The apparatus thus facilitates that monitoring of the cutting comparedto said prior art cutting apparatus that uses stainless steel belts.

In one embodiment, said conveyor further comprises at least onesupporting means arranged adjacent and below said conveyor belt forproviding a support for said conveyor belt.

In one embodiment, said at least one supporting means comprises at leastone supporting belt extending between a first roller means and a secondroller means roller means

Accordingly, a support is provided for the conveyer belt which preventsthe conveyor belt from being deflected when food items are conveyed onit meaning that any kind of inaccuracy in cutting is no longer presentbecause the position of the food items in relation to the cutting meanswill always be the same. Thus, extra arrangement for maintainingsufficient tension in the conveyor belt is not needed. This also meansthat the conveyor can be significantly longer than such prior artconveyor where such a U-shaped gap arrangement is utilized. The at leastone supporting means may further include any means that is arrangedparallel to the conveying direction and below said conveyor belt and/ortransversally to the conveying direction. The supporting means may alsoinclude, but is not limited to, telescopic bars arranged longitudinalbelow the main conveyor belt, and/or number of transversal bars arrangedtransversal to the transport direction that can be pushed together andpulled apart arranged below said conveyor belt.

In one embodiment, said at least one supporting belt has a first endmounted to a downstream side of a frame structure for maintaining saidinternal arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means fixed,and a second end mounted to an upstream side of said frame structure.

In one embodiment, where the first end of the at least one supportingmeans extends from the downstream side of said frame structure andaround a first elongated bar to the first roller and the second end ofthe at least one supporting means extends from the upstream side of saidframe structure and around a second elongated bar to the second rollermeans.

In one embodiment, said at least one of said first roller and saidsecond roller is a driving roller for providing back and forthdisplacement of the frame structure via said at least one supportingbelt. In that way, a simple solution is provide to operate the back andforth movement of said adjacent elongated supporting means, and said atleast one further elongated supporting means and the cutter parallel tothe conveying direction while maintaining said internal arrangementfixed. The at least one supporting belt does not necessarily have toextend around the first and the second roller means, i.e. so that the atleast one support belt forms in a way at least one endless-like belt.The at least one support belt however typically extends around saidfirst and second roller means and in that way form a kind of anendless-like belt.

In one embodiment, said conveyor further comprises a third roller meansand a fourth roller means placed distally away from said first andsecond roller means, where at least one of said third or fourth rollermeans act as a driving roller means for said conveyor belt. In that way,said means that maintains the internal arrangement of said adjacentelongated supporting means, said at least one further elongatedsupporting means and said cutter parallel to the conveying directionfixed during use, is operated independently of the conveyor belt.

In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus comprises at least one furtherelongated supporting means placed below said adjacent elongatedsupporting means, said at least one conveyor belt being a singleconveyor belt and said adjacent elongated supporting means and said atleast one further elongated supporting means being adapted to create abypass for said conveyor belt by means of extending the conveyor beltbetween the adjacent elongated supporting means and said at least onefurther elongated supporting means such that a substantial U-shapedprofile of the conveyor belt is formed. Accordingly, a simple solutionis provided to provide said opening for the cutter. The at least onefurther elongated supporting means may e.g. be an idle roller that isplaced directly below the cutter, but by placing it in the cutting planeit is ensured that the belt/conveyor will not be damaged during thecutting because the cutting tool, e.g. a water jet and the like, willnever intersect with the conveyor belt. Also, that fact that a singleconveyor belt is being used makes the apparatus both more economical andsimpler.

The internal arrangement between the adjacent elongated supporting meansand the at least one further elongated supporting means may be such thatthe U-shaped profile may be oblique in relation to the surface of theconveyor belt, i.e. such that the at least one further elongatedsupporting means does not lie directly below the cutting means and inthe cutting plane, or as mentioned above, such that the at least onefurther elongated supporting means is directly below the cutting means.

In one embodiment, said elongated supporting means is adjustable frombeing in a closed position where it is placed in a lowest position inrelation to said adjacent elongated supporting means where the conveyorbelt is in a stretched state towards being in an unlocked position wherethe conveyor belt is in a slack state. By moving the elongatedsupporting means from said closed position where it is positioned belowsaid adjacent elongated supporting means towards said open positiontowards the rollers or above the rollers, the conveyor belt may easilybe removed for e.g. cleaning purposes or for replacing it with a newbelt.

In one embodiment, said elongated supporting means are rollers. Inanother embodiment, said adjacent elongated supporting means aretriangular shaped bars where the acute angles of said triangular shapedbars are facing each other. The advantage of using rollers compared tothe triangular shaped bars is that the wear on the conveyor belt is lesswhich increases the lifetime of the belt, and also the friction is lessmeaning that less power is required to operate it. On the other hand,the advantage of using such triangular shaped bars is that the activedistance between the distal ends of said adjacent triangular shaped barscan be shorter compared to rollers, which may be favorable if the fooditems are relatively short.

In one embodiment, said acute angle of said triangular shaped bars havea round shape. This is to provide a “smooth” interaction between theconveyor belt and the triangular shaped bars but the more sharper theacute angles are the higher is the risk that the conveyor belt becomesdamaged.

In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus further comprises elongated bararranged below the surface level of said at least one conveyor beltbetween said at least one further elongated supporting means and saidcutter, the elongated bar being positioned such that it intersects withthe cutting plane of the cutter at all times. In one embodiment, saidelongated bar is a tube with a slot extending along the longitudinalaxis of the tube and where the tube is positioned such that the slot isfacing the cutter and thus intersects with the cutting plane of thecutter at all times. Accordingly, the enormous impact from the cutter,e.g. if the cutter is a water cutter, onto the at least one furtherelongated supporting means is absorbed by said elongated bar, which mayeasily be replaced by a new one.

In one embodiment, the adjacent elongated supporting means are distalend-rollers of two adjacent conveyor belts each of which being providedwith a belt stretching mechanism for maintaining a fixed belt tension atall times while maintaining said fixed internal arrangement of theadjacent rollers.

In one embodiment, said cutting apparatus further comprises a scraperadapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items after the cutting. Itis namely of particular advantage to be able to remove the cut outpieces after the cutting on one and the same conveyor as where thecutting is taking place, but today, such an automatic removing is notpossible on the stainless steel cutter belt that are being used due totheir rough surface. Also, it is prevented that the cut outpieces/offcuts become accumulated in said gap, i.e. the U-shapeddepression.

In one embodiment, said scraper is mounted to a scraper operatingmechanism capable of moving the scraper down adjacent to the surfacelevel of said at least one conveyor belt during cutting, and up from thesurface level when not in use. In that way, and “active” mode and “nonactive” mode of the scraper is provided since some cuts may be such thatan immediate removing is not possible.

In one embodiment, said scraper operating mechanism further comprisesangle adjustment mechanism to adjust the angle of the scraper aroundvertical axis. This may be of particular advantage when e.g. trimmingpork belly where the trimming is taking place at both sides of the porkbelly. Thus, by adjusting the angle accordingly it is ensured that theautomatic removing of the trim is guided away from the conveyor belt.

In one embodiment, the scraper is positioned adjacent and behind thecutter at the downstream end with respect to the conveying direction ofthe at least one conveyor belt. Accordingly, an immediate removal of thecut out portion(s) of said food items is possible.

In one embodiment, the cut-off material may also can be removed by meansof vacuum or suction means.

In one embodiment, the cutter is further provided with a tiltingmechanism for adjusting the tilting angle in both directions within thecutting plane of the cutter. The cutter may be selected from, but is notlimited to:

-   -   a fluid pressure cutter,    -   a laser beam cutter,    -   a high pressurized gas cutter, or    -   a cutting blade.

In one embodiment, said at least one further elongated supporting meanscomprises two spaced apart roller means. Accordingly, a space is createdbetween the two spaced apart roller means for collecting off-cuts andthe like that might fall down through said gap between said adjacentelongated supporting means.

In one embodiment, the cutting apparatus further comprises a removingmeans for removing undesired particles, off-cuts and the like from thegap extending across said at least one conveyor belt. Thus, means isprovide to immediately remove any off-cuts, dirt, particles and the likethat might e.g. fall onto the space between said spaced apart rollermeans and be pushed hard by the roller means onto the conveyor beltresulting in that they might otherwise stick firmly to the conveyorbelt.

In a second aspect of the invention a food processing system is providedcomprising said cutting apparatus, comprising:

-   -   an imaging system for imaging and producing image data of the        food items to be processed,    -   a computer system operable connected to a tracing mechanism for        tracing the position of the food items while being conveyed, the        computer system being adapted to process said image data so as        to generate operation parameters for operating said movement of        the cutter across the conveyor belt and parallel to the        conveying direction.

Accordingly, a food processing system is provided that may utilize a“unified” x-ray and cutting conveyor with the above mentionedadvantages. This does not only make the system as such more compact butalso enhances the accuracy in e.g. trimming since it is now possible touse a single conveyor meaning that the error caused when transferringthe foot items from one conveyor to the next is no longer an issue.

In one embodiment, said imaging system is a x-ray system and where saidimage data is x-ray data. In another embodiment, said imaging systemincludes x-ray system positioned subsequent to cutting the food itemsadapted to image the processed food items, the image data subsequentlybeing processed by said computer system so as to determined whetherundesired objects are present in the processed food items.

In one embodiment, said imaging system is selected from:

-   -   a light source placed below/above the conveyor belt for imaging        said food items and based thereon produce data identifying said        undesired objects, or    -   a three dimensional imaging equipment, or    -   a color vision, or    -   a x-ray system, or    -   an ultaviolet system, or    -   a combination of one or more of the above.

In one embodiment, x-ray system includes a first x-ray beam forradiating the food items from a first viewing angle for generating afirst view x-ray image data, and a second x-ray beam for radiating thefood items from a second viewing angle for generating a second viewx-ray image data, said first view and second view image data beingutilized as input data in generating three dimensional image data basedof said items.

In general the various aspects of the invention may be combined andcoupled in any way possible within the scope of the invention. These andother aspects, features and/or advantages of the invention will beapparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments describedhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will be described, by way of example only,with reference to the drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a cutting apparatusaccording to the present invention for cutting food items,

FIGS. 2-4 depict graphically a perspective view, top view and a sideview of the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1,

FIGS. 5-7 depict graphically a perspective view, top view and a sideview of the cutting apparatus in FIGS. 2-4 during cutting,

FIG. 8 depicts graphically a U-shaped cut out portion from a fishfillet,

FIG. 9 shows where a cutter is moved sidewise across an opening forcutting other parts of the fish fillet,

FIGS. 10 and 11 depict a perspective view and a side view of oneembodiment according to the present invention, where adjacent elongatedsupporting means and the further elongated supporting means are rollersthat create a bypass for the conveyor belt,

FIG. 12 depicts two different embodiments of said adjacent elongatedsupporting means,

FIGS. 13-15 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatusaccording to the present invention further comprising a scraper adaptedto remove cut out pieces of the food items immediately after thecutting,

FIG. 16-18 depict a top view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13-15,where FIG. 16 shown the scenario shortly before cutting the loins of thefish fillet,

FIG. 19 shows one embodiment of a food processing system according tothe present invention comprising the cutting apparatus as discussed inrelation to FIGS. 1-18,

FIGS. 20-25 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side view ofanother embodiment of a cutting apparatus according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 26 shows one embodiment of means a frame structure associated withthe cutting apparatus according to the present invention,

FIG. 27 shows another embodiment of a system according to the presentinvention,

FIGS. 28 and 29 show another embodiment of a cutting apparatus accordingto the present invention for cutting food items conveyed on a conveyorbut instead of utilizing only a single conveyor belt two adjacentconveyor belts are used,

FIG. 30 shows yet another embodiment of a cutting apparatus according tothe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a cutting apparatus100 according to the present invention for cutting food items conveyedon a conveyor 101 including a conveyor belt 102. The apparatus comprisesa cutter 103 that is arranged above a gap 104 extending across theconveyor belt 102. The gap is formed between adjacent elongatedsupporting means such as adjacent rollers with a fixed internalarrangement. This will be discussed in more details in relation to theremaining figures. The conveyor belt 102 may be made of any type ofdeflecting material that may be of solid type such as any type of rubberor plastic material and/or any type of belt that is stiff in thetransversal direction and flexible in the longitudinal direction such asan Intralox belt type.

The cutter may be, but is not limited to, a fluid pressure cutter, alaser beam cutter, a high pressurized gas cutter, or a cutting blade,where the cutter is slideable mounted to a track 105 positionedtransverse and across the conveyor belt 102 directly above the gap 104such that the cutting path of the cutter 103 extends through the gap 104and below the surface level of the conveyor belt 102. The track may bean integral part of oppositely arranged supporting frames 106 forsupporting the track and thus the cutter 103. The frames are mounted tovertical side plates 107 that are slideable mounted to opposite arrangedtracks 108 parallel to the conveying direction. The cutter is operableconnected to a control mechanism including a driving unit (not shown)for operating crosswise movement of the cutter along the gap 104 asindicated by the arrow 112. The cutter is further operable connected toa control mechanism including a driving unit 111 to operate back andforth movement of the adjacent elongated supporting means as indicatedby the arrow 113 and the cutter parallel to the conveying directionwhile maintaining the internal arrangement of the adjacent elongatedsupporting means and the cutter 103 fixed, i.e. so that the cutter planeis at all times positioned directly above the opening 104. FIG. 1 showsfurther a conveyor motor 109 for running the conveyor belt, and a framestructure 110 for supporting the cutting apparatus.

In another embodiment and which will be discussed in more details inrelation to FIGS. 28-29, the adjacent elongated supporting means, e.g.adjacent rollers, are distal end-rollers of two adjacent conveyor beltseach of which being provided with a belt stretching mechanism formaintaining a fixed belt tension at all times while maintaining saidfixed internal arrangement of the adjacent rollers.

FIGS. 2-4 depict graphically a perspective view, top view and a sideview of an embodiment of the cutting apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1,where a single conveyor belt 102 is used and where the adjacentelongated supporting means 202, 203 are rollers. This should of coursenot be construed as being limited to rollers since any types ofelongated supporting means that preferably have a smooth surface areafor preventing the conveyor belt from being damaged may be implemented.In this embodiment, a further roller (elongated supporting means) 204 isprovided and placed between and below the adjacent rollers 202, 203 suchthat it intersects with the cutting plane 206 of the cutter. Asmentioned in relation to FIG. 1, the cutter may e.g. be a fluid pressurecutter meaning that this further roller must be made of material thatcan withstand the impact from the fluid pressure, such as a stainlesssteel. As shown here, the internal arrangement between the rollers202-204 is such that the further roller 204 is positioned below thecutter 103 and thus intersects with the cutting planes 206 at all times.This arrangement of the rollers provides bypass for the conveyor belt102 since the conveyor belt extends between the adjacent rollers 202,203 and the further roller 204 such that a substantial U-shaped profileof the conveyor belt 102 is formed. The arrangement of the rollers202-204 shown here may be considered as the position where the furtherroller 204 is in a closed position, i.e. where it is placed below thesurface level of the adjacent roller 202, 203 and where the conveyorbelt 102 is in a stretched state. The adjacent rollers 202, 203 may berigidly mounted to the vertical side plates 107 (see FIG. 1), whereasthe further roller 204 is also mounted to the side plates 107 but in away that it is adjustable from being in a locked position, as shownhere, to an unlocked position via an lock/unlock mechanism comprised inthe side plates. By doing so, the further roller 204 is adjustableupwards so that the conveyor belt will be no longer be stretched, i.e.in a slack state. The conveyor belt may thus easily be removed from thecutting apparatus 100, e.g. for cleaning purposes or for replacing itwith a new belt. Any types of conveyor belts may be used, e.g. thinsolid belts made of plastic material or e.g. polyurethane, polyester andthe like.

The conveying direction of the food item 201, in this case a fishfillet, is indicated by arrow 205. A typical procedure as will bediscussed in more details in relation to FIG. 13 is following: animaging apparatus such as an x-ray system, takes x-ray images of thefish fillet 201. The x-ray images are processed by a computer systemincluding a processing unit which detects where e.g. undesired fattissues and/or undesired objects such as bones are located. Based onthis, cutting operation parameters are generated that operate both theback and forth movement of the cutter 103 across the conveyor belt 102within the gap 104 as indicated by arrow 112, and also back and forthmovement of the cutter parallel to the conveying direction as indicatedby arrow 113. Accordingly, one and the same cutter is being used forperforming a two dimensional cutting, i.e. it is capable of cuttingwhile being moved back and forth parallel to the conveying direction aswell as simultaneously being move transverse across the conveyor.

The rollers 202-204 and the track 105 shown in FIG. 1 may be mounted toa common frame structure, e.g. said supporting frames 106 and sideplates 107, which is operable connected to a driving unit (not shown)that operate the back and forth movement of this frame structure andthus the back and forth movement of the cutter 103 where this back andforth speed may be larger or less than the speed of the conveyor belt102. Accordingly, while the fish fillet 201 is being conveyed one andthe same cutter can trim the periphery of the fish fillet 201 and alsoremove e.g. the bones from the fish fillet.

FIGS. 5-7 depict graphically a perspective view, top view and a sideview of the cutting apparatus in FIGS. 2-4, showing where a portion ofthe fish fillet 201 at the head end is being cut. In order to do so, thecutter moves first against the conveying direction 205 towards the tailend, and subsequently in the same direction as the conveying directionwith a speed that is larger than that of the conveyor belt 102. Theresult is a substantial U-shaped cut out portion 801 as shown in FIG. 8,but as shown this portion has been removed from the fish fillet. FIG. 9shows where the cutter 103 has moved sidewise across the opening 104 forcutting other parts of the fish fillet. The fluid pressure (or the laserbeam, or the air pressure) is preferably also controllable at all timesmeaning that the e.g. the fluid pressure is adjustable from being inoperation when cutting is taking place and shut off when no cutting istaking place, i.e. a kind of an on-off mode of the cutting is preferablyfully operable. As an example, while the cutter is moving across the gap104 the fluid pressure is shut off, and when the cutting is continued itis turned on.

In one embodiment, the cutter is further provided with a tiltingmechanism (not shown) for adjusting the tilting angle within the cuttingplane of the cutter.

The food items should of course not be construed as being limited tofish fillets, but this cutting apparatus may be of particular importancefor cutting poultry items such as poultry breast, red meat and the like.

The cut out portion(s) 801 may in one embodiment be removed with avacuum or suction means. This may of particular importance when the cutout portion(s) 801 are located a position, which as shown, is e.g.between the opposite sides of the fish fillet (or any food products)where it is not possible to scrape it away. As will be discussed later,if the cut out portions is at either sides of the food product (see e.g.FIG. 13-17) other means may be used to removed the cut out portion(s)from the conveyor belt 102.

FIGS. 10 and 11 depict a perspective view and a side view of oneembodiment of a cutting apparatus according to the present invention,where the adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 and the at leastone further elongated supporting means, which in this case is a singlefurther elongated supporting means 204, are rollers 202-204 that createa bypass for the conveyor belt 102. The diameter of the further roller204 is preferably larger than that of the adjacent rollers 202, 203.

The cutting apparatus in this embodiment further comprises an elongatedbar 1000 arranged below the surface level of the conveyor belt 102between the further elongated supporting means 204 and the cutter 103and extends across the conveyor belt, e.g. between said common framestructure. In that way, the internal arrangement between the bar 1000and the rollers 202-204 is fixed meaning that the bar 1000 moves backand forth as the rollers 202-204 are moved back and forth.

As depicted in this embodiment, the bar is a tube 1000 with a slot 1004extending along the longitudinal axis of the tube 1000 where the slot isfacing the cutting plane of the cutter 103 at all times. The tube may beopen at its opposite end or partly open so as to let the water 1001 thataccumulates in the tube to flow out of the tube.

Assuming the cutter 103 is a water cutter, the water beam 1003 hits theslot and thus the accumulated water, which results in that the impactfrom the water beam 1003 becomes absorbed or depleted by the tube or bythe water accumulated within the tube. In that way, the conveyor beltwill in no way be damaged during the cutting procedure. The tube 1000may in addition to this easily be replaced with a new one when due toe.g wear. Thus, a cost saving solution is provided since it is moreeconomical to replacing the tube 1000 with a new once, instead replacingthe roller 204. It should be noted that the elongated bar 1000 shouldnot be construed to the tube shown here but other shapes of elongatedbars may be used suitable for absorbing the cutting impact from the beamso as to prevent the belt from being damaged. The shapes, material type,thickness etc. of the elongated bar may also depend on the type of thecutter being used.

FIG. 12 a,b depicts two different embodiments of said adjacent elongatedsupporting means, where FIG. 12 a shows the embodiment that has beendiscussed in relation to FIGS. 2-11, where the adjacent elongatedsupporting means are rollers 202, 203 as well as the further elongatedsupporting means 204, that create a bypass for the conveyor belt 102.

FIG. 12 b shows an embodiment where the adjacent elongated supportingmeans are triangular shaped bars 2002, 2003 where the acute angles ofthe triangular shaped bars are facing each other. As the figures show,the active distance 1201 between the adjacent rollers 202, 203 in FIG.12 a, i.e. the distance where the planar surface of the conveyor belt102 starts to deviate from the planer surface, is larger compared to theactive distance 1201 in FIG. 12 b between the adjacent triangular shapedbars 2002, 2003. Thus, in case the food items are relatively short, itmay be preferred to use such triangular shaped bars 2002, 2003.

FIGS. 13-15 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the apparatusaccording to the present invention further comprising a scraper 1301adapted to remove cut out pieces of the food items after the cutting.The embodiment shown here further comprises said elongated bar 1000, butthis embodiment obviously applies also to the embodiment in the absenceof this elongated bar 1000.

The scraper 1301 may be mounted to the cutter 103 or the track 105 (seeFIG. 1), but preferably so that the scraper 1301 follows the cutter 103at all times, e.g. by rigidly mounting the scraper to the cutter with apre-fixed angle. The scraper may also be mounted to a scraper operatingmechanism (not shown here) that is capable of lifting the scraper 1301up, as shown in FIG. 14, and down, as shown in FIG. 13, via e.g. airjack mechanism, depending on whether the scraper is 1301 is being usedor not.

In one embodiment, the scraper operating mechanism is also capable ofadjusting the angle of the scraper via vertical rotational axis,depending on whether a portion of the right or left side of the fishfillet 201 (food item) is being cut and subsequently removed. As shownhere, the distal end of the scraper 1301 points towards the distal endof the conveyor belt 102. FIG. 15 shows where the loins 1501 of the fishfillet has been cut and subsequently removed from the fish fillet.Accordingly, no extra manpower is needed to manually remove the cut outportion.

As an example, if the food item is pork belly, the scraper 1301 is ofparticular advantage when being utilized to remove the trim of the porkbelly at the opposite sides of the pork belly. In such cases, the abovementioned angle of the scraper 1301 would be changed in accordance toe.g. images taken of the pork belly indicating which of the sides of thepork belly is being processed. This will be discussed in more details inrelation to FIG. 19.

FIG. 16-18 depict a top view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 13-15,where FIG. 16 shows the scenario shortly before cutting the loins 1501of the fish fillet 201, FIG. 17 depicts the scenario during the cutting,showing clearly that the scraper 1301 is attached or associated to thecutter 103 at all times. As shown in this embodiment, the scraper 1301is positioned adjacent and behind the cutter 103, i.e. at the downstreamend with respect to the conveying direction 205 of the conveyor belt 102so as to allow immediate removal of the loins 1501 (i.e. the cut outpiece). However, the scraper 1501 may just as well be placed furtherdown the conveying direction 205 and thus remove the cut out portionssomewhat compared to the embodiment shown here. FIG. 18 shows where theloins 1501 of the fish fillet has been removed from the fish fillet.

FIG. 19 shows one embodiment of a food processing system 1900 accordingto the present invention comprising the cutting apparatus 100 asdiscussed in relation to FIGS. 1-12. The food processing system 1900comprises an imaging system 1902 and a computer system 1901. The imagingsystem may be, but is not limited to, a light source placed above theconveyor belt for imaging said food items and based thereon produce dataidentifying said undesired objects, or a three dimensional imagingequipment, or a color vision, or a x-ray system, or an ultravioletsystem, or a combination of one or more of the above. Assuming that theimaging system is x-ray system, the resulting imaging data are x-raydata of the food items to be processed, in this case said fish fillet201. The computer system 1901 is operable connected to a tracingmechanism (not shown), such as a tacho meter, for tracing the positionof the fish fillet 201 while being conveyed. The computer system 1901 isfurther adapted to process the image data 1903 and generate operationparameters 1905 for operating said movement of the cutter 103 across theconveyor belt 102 and parallel to the conveying direction as indicatedby the arrow 113. The operation parameters 1905 may further containinformation indicating e.g. whether said scraper should be in an“active” mode adjacent to the conveyor belt (see FIGS. 13-18), and/orwhether angle direction of the scraper, and/or the angle of the scraper.

In one embodiment, the imaging system includes a further x-ray system(not shown) positioned subsequent to cutting the food items adapted toimage the processed food items. The computer system 1901 is also adaptedto process this image data, e.g. x-ray data, for determining whetherundesired objects are present in the processed food items, e.g. bones orsmall metal pieces. These food items may then subsequently be rejected.

In another embodiment, the x-ray system includes a first x-ray beam forradiating the food items from a first viewing angle, e.g. from above orbelow, for generating first view x-ray image data, and a second x-raybeam for radiating the food items from a second viewing angle, e.g. fromthe side, for generating a second view x-ray image data. The image dataare then processed for generating three dimensional image data based ofsaid items.

The imaging system, in this case the x-ray system, may be a dual energysystem, meaning that the x-ray radiation uses two frequencies, where theattenuation of the radiations, e.g. the two frequencies when passing theproducts are measured and detected. However, also x-ray radiationsystems with a single energy/frequency can be used for this purpose, forexample when the height/thickness of the products are even or when theproducts are formed to have a substantially uniform thickness.

FIGS. 20-22 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side view ofanother embodiment of a cutting apparatus 100 according to the presentinvention. The cutting apparatus shown here further comprises at leastone supporting means 2000 for supporting said belt 201. In thisembodiment, the at least one supporting means is a supporting belt thatextends between a first roller means 2001 and a second roller means2002. As will be discussed in more details later the at least onesupporting belt is fixed to a frame structure 2003 that supports saidadjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 and said further elongatedsupporting means 204. At least one of the roller means 2001, 2002 actsas a driving roller for the frame structure 2003 via the at least onesupporting belt and provides said back and forth displacement of theelongated supporting means 202-204 and the cutting means 103.

As shown, the at least one supporting belt 2000 is arranged adjacent andbelow said conveyor belt 102 and provides a support for the conveyorbelt, i.e. the conveyor belt 102 lies on top of the at least onesupporting belt 2000. For illustrative purposes the conveyor belt 102 isshown in dotted lines to educe the view of the at least one supportingbelt 2000. The conveying direction of the food item, in this case a fishfillet 201, is indicated by the arrow 205.

The number of supporting belts shown here is four, but this number mayvary from being only one supporting belt to two or more supportingbelts, where the number of belts may e.g. depend on the width of theconveyor belt 102 or the type and/or weight of the food products. Also,in this embodiment, the four supporting belts 2000 extend around thefirst and second roller means 2001, 2002 where the distance between theupper and the lower horizontal sides of the supporting belts is greaterthat the depth of the U-shaped belt.

The ends 2006, 2007 of the four supporting belts 2000 are mounted to anupstream side 2005 and a downstream side 2004 of the frame structure2003. As FIGS. 20 and 22 show, the first and the second ends 2007, 2006of the four supporting belts 2000 extend upward and along the downstreamand the upstream sides of the frame structure 2003 and around elongatedbars (not shown here) to the first and second rollers 2001, 2002,respectively.

The at least one supporting belt may be made a timing belt which has atooth shaped pattern and where the driving roller 2001, 2002 has acorresponding tooth shaped surface for engaging with the at least onetooth shape of the timing belt.

FIGS. 23-25 depict a perspective view, a top view and a side view of thesame embodiment as shown in FIGS. 20-22, but at some later time pointwhere the fish fillet 201 has been conveyed from the first positionshown in FIGS. 20-22 towards a second position and where a portion 2301of the fish fillet has been removed with the cutting means.

FIG. 26 shows one embodiment of said frame structure 2300 discussed inrelation to FIGS. 20-25, where the frame structure comprises twoopposite sides 2601 (the distal side is not shown). Said adjacentelongated supporting means 202, 203 is mounted to an upper part of thetwo opposite sides 2601 and said further elongated supporting means 204is mounted to the lower part of the two opposite sides 2601. Theinternal arrangement between the adjacent elongated supporting means202, 203 and the further elongated supporting means 204 is such that thevertical plane extending through the further elongated supporting means204 is between the vertical planes extending through the adjacentelongated supporting means 202, 203. These elongated supporting meansshown in this embodiment are guide rollers that rotate around anelongated rotation axis and act as idle rollers.

The frame structure further comprises a winch acting as alocking/un-locking mechanism 2604 for locking and unlocking the furtherelongated supporting means 204 by e.g. moving the winch 2604 from thehorizontal position shown here where the further elongated supportingmeans 204 is in a locked position up to a horizontal position where thefurther elongated supporting means 204 is in an unlocked position. Bydoing so the further elongated supporting means 204 my be lifted upwardsvia the handle 2605 when e.g. removing the belt 102.

The mounting of the first and second ends 2006, 2007 of the supportingbelts may as an example done by means of sliding the open ends into apockets 2602 that e.g. clamp the open ends of the supporting belts in afixed position, and extending the supporting belts 2000 upwards andaround elongated bars 2610, 2611 that are rigidly mounted to the framestructure towards said first and second roller means 2001, 2002,respectively.

Other means may also be provided for fixing the open ends of thesupporting belts to the upstream/downstream sides of the framestructure.

The wheels 2603, 2604 are adapted to slide on a sliding track (not shownhere) for allowing said back and forth movement of the frame structure.

The cutting means may in relation to FIGS. 20-26 be mounted to the framestructure 2300 so that it follows the back and forth movement of theframe structure 2300 and also along a sliding track or similar meansacross the gap (not shown here), or the cutting means may run along andacross separate sliding means along and/or across the gap 104 by besynchronized such that it is position above the gap at all times, i.e.independently from said frame structure 2300.

FIG. 27 shows another embodiment of a system according to the presentinvention 1900. In this embodiment, the conveyor 101 further comprises athird roller means 2701 and a fourth roller means 2702 placed distallyaway from said first and second roller means 2001 of the cuttingapparatus 100, where the third roller means act as a driving rollermeans for the conveyor belt 101. In this embodiment the cutting meansmay, but is not limited to, be a water jet cutter, but shown here isalso a spiral shaped water inlet 2705 into the cutter, that is connectedto a water source (not shown).

The cutting apparatus 100 is arranged within a frame 2706 but in thisembodiment the size of the frame is large enough to contain anothercutting apparatus (not shown) next to the cutting apparatus shown here.Moreover, the frame 2706 further includes an upper compartment 2707 tohost the motor that drives the back and forth movement of the framestructure 2300.

Also, imaging equipment 2703 is shown, but this may e.g. be an X-rayapparatus for collecting data indicating e.g. the position of bones tobe removed and/or undesired tissues, fat etc. but this data is used by acomputer system/control unit (not shown) to operate the cutting meansthat removes the bones and/or the undesired tissues fat etc.

One and the same conveyor belt 101 is used throughout the system, i.e.from where the food items enter the imaging equipment until the fooditems have been processed by the cutting apparatus 100. This means thatthere is no need to use two different conveyor belts, i.e. one conveyorbelt for the imaging equipment that conveys the food items into andthrough the imaging equipment and another cutting belt when cutting thefood items with the cutting means.

FIGS. 28 and 29 depict another embodiment of a cutting apparatus 100according to the present invention for cutting food items conveyed on aconveyor, but instead of utilizing only a single conveyor belt asdiscussed in relation to the previous figures and create a bypass forcreating said gap, two adjacent conveyor belts 2801, 2802 are used wheresaid adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 are distal end-rollersof two adjacent conveyor belts 2801, 2802. As depicted here, each of theconveyor belts 2801, 2802 is provided with a belt stretching mechanismthat is connected to the opposite ends 2803, 2804 of the two conveyors2801, 2802, that adjusts height of the opposite ends in dependence ofthe length of the horizontal part of the conveyors such that the belttension of the conveyor belt remains substantial constant at all times.These opposite ends may e.g. be idle rollers. FIGS. 28 and 29 show theadjacent ends 202, 203 of the cutting apparatus 100 in two differentpositions, where FIG. 28 shows the adjacent elongated supporting means202, 203 are more to the right compared to FIG. 29 and where theopposite end 2803 is moved downward whereas the opposite end 2804 movedupward.

Any type of means (not shown) may be placed below the gap, especially incase the cutting means is a water jet, to take the impact from e.g. thewater jet. In case the cutting means is a cutting blade such means maynot be needed.

FIG. 30 shows another embodiment of a cutting apparatus 100 according tothe present invention where the at least one further elongatedsupporting means comprises two roller means 3001, 3002 instead of saidsingle roller as shown in FIGS. 2-26. The space between the two rollermeans 3001, 3002 facilitates the removal of any undesired dirt,particles, tissues, bones, off-cut particles and the like from theprocessing, but it is important that such dirt/particles etc. do notland on the surface of the conveyor belt and become clamped between thebelt 102 and the rollers 3001, 3002. The rollers 3001, 3002 might thenpush them hard to the belt 102 and therefore they might stick firmly toit.

A removing means 3004 may be provided at the space between the rollermeans 3001, 3002 for removing said undesired dirt/particles/off-cutsetc. that may fall down through the opening between the adjacentelongated supporting means 202, 203. This may as an example be, but isnot limited to, a blowing devices that blows these away before the dirtbecomes clamped between the conveyor belt and the rollers, a water jets,a suction mechanism and the like.

This embodiment shows also said elongated bar 1000 as discussed inrelation to FIGS. 10 and 11, but this may especially be important if thecutting means is a water jet cutter, to prevent the cutting means fromdamaging the belt 102. In case the cutting means is a cutting blade orsimilar means such an elongated beam 1000 may not be needed.

Also, this embodiments shows where said at least one supporting belt2000 extends between four rollers where at least one of these rollersare driving rollers for the adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203and the two roller means 3001, 3002, or the frame structure (not shownhere) to which these adjacent elongated supporting means 202, 203 andthe two rollers 3001, 3002 are mounted to. The number of rollers betweenwhich the at least one supporting belts 2000 extends should of coursenot be construed as being limited to these four rollers, but e.g. tworollers as discussed in relation to FIGS. 20-25 could just as well bepossible.

The same applies to the number of rollers between which the conveyorbelt extends between, but these rollers could just as well be two ormore.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and descriptionare to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; theinvention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variationsto the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by thoseskilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study ofthe drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims,the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and theindefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. The merefact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependentclaims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot beused to advantage.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cutting apparatus for cutting food itemsconveyed on a conveyor including at least one conveyor belt, comprising:a cutter arranged above a gap extending across said at least oneconveyor belt, the cutter being positioned in relation to the gap suchthat the cutting path of the cutter extends through the food items andthe gap and below the surface level of said at least one conveyor belt,the cutter being adapted to be connected to a control mechanism foroperating crosswise movement of the cutter along said gap, wherein saidgap is formed between adjacent elongated supporting means with a fixedinternal arrangement, the adjacent elongated supporting means and thecutter being adapted to be connected to a control mechanism foroperating back and forth movement of the adjacent elongated supportingmeans and the cutter parallel to the conveying direction whilemaintaining said internal arrangement of the adjacent elongatedsupporting means and the cutter fixed.
 2. A cutting apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said conveyor further comprises at least onesupporting means arranged adjacent and below said conveyor belt forproviding a support for said conveyor belt.
 3. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein said at least one supporting meanscomprises at least one supporting belt extending between a first rollermeans and a second roller means.
 4. A cutting apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein said at least one supporting means has a first endmounted to a downstream side of a frame structure for maintaining saidinternal arrangement of the adjacent elongated supporting means fixed,and a second end mounted to an upstream side of said frame structure. 5.A cutting apparatus according to claim 2, where the first end of the atleast one supporting means extends from the downstream side of saidframe structure and around a first elongated bar to the first roller andthe second end of the at least one supporting means extends from theupstream side of said frame structure and around adjacent secondelongated bar to the second roller means.
 6. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said conveyor further comprises a thirdroller means and a fourth roller means placed distally away from saidfirst and second roller means, where at least one of said third orfourth roller means act as a driving roller means for said conveyorbelt.
 7. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at leastone further elongated supporting means placed below said adjacentelongated supporting means, said at least one conveyor belt being asingle conveyor belt and said adjacent elongated supporting means andsaid at least one further elongated supporting means being adapted tocreate a bypass for said conveyor belt by means of extending theconveyor belt between the adjacent elongated supporting means and saidat least one further elongated supporting means such that a substantialU-shaped profile of the conveyor belt is formed.
 8. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein said at least one further elongatedsupporting means is adjustable from being in a closed position where itis placed below said adjacent elongated supporting means where theconveyor belt is in a stretched state towards being in an open positionwhere the conveyor belt is in a slack state.
 9. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said elongated supporting means arerollers.
 10. A cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidadjacent elongated supporting means are triangular shaped bars where theacute angles of said triangular shaped bars are facing each other.
 11. Acutting apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said acute angle ofsaid triangular shaped bars have a round shape.
 12. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising elongated bar arranged belowthe surface level of said at least one conveyor belt between said atleast one further elongated supporting means and said cutter, theelongated bar being positioned such that it intersects with the cuttingplane of the cutter at all times.
 13. A cutting apparatus according toclaim 12, wherein said elongated bar is a tube with a slot extendingalong the longitudinal axis of the tube, where the tube is positionedsuch that the slot is facing the cutter and thus intersects with thecutting plane of the cutter at all times.
 14. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the adjacent elongated supporting meansare distal end-rollers of two adjacent conveyor belts each of whichbeing provided with a belt stretching mechanism for maintaining a fixedbelt tension at all times while maintaining said fixed internalarrangement of the adjacent rollers.
 15. A cutting apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the cutter is further provided with a tiltingmechanism for adjusting the tilting angle in both directions within thecutting plane of the cutter.
 16. A cutting apparatus according to claim1, further comprising a scraper adapted to remove cut out pieces of thefood items after the cutting.
 17. A cutting apparatus according to claim16, wherein said scraper is mounted to a scraper operating mechanismcapable of moving the scraper down adjacent to the surface level of saidat least one conveyor belt during cutting, and up from the surface levelwhen not in use.
 18. A cutting apparatus according to claim 16, whereinsaid scraper operating mechanism further comprise scraper anglemechanism to adjust the angle of the scraper around a vertical axis. 19.A cutting apparatus according to claim 16, where the scraper ispositioned adjacent and behind the cutter at the downstream end withrespect to the conveying direction of said conveyor belt so as to allowimmediate removal of cut out portions of said food items.
 20. A cuttingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cutter is selected from: afluid pressure cutter, a laser beam cutter, a high pressurized gascutter, or a cutting blade.
 21. A cutting apparatus according to claim7, wherein said at least one further elongated supporting meanscomprises two spaced apart roller means.
 22. A cutting apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a removing means for removingundesired particles, off-cuts and the like that fall through said gapextending across said at least one conveyor belt.
 23. A food processingsystem comprising a cutting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:an imaging system for imaging and producing image data of the food itemsto be processed, a computer system operable connected to a tracingmechanism for tracing the position of the food items while beingconveyed, the computer system being adapted to process said image dataso as to generate operation parameters for operating said movement ofthe cutter across the conveyor belt (102) and parallel to the conveyingdirection.
 24. A food processing system according to claim 23, whereinsaid imaging system is an x-ray system and where said image data isx-ray data.